No sparkles on these three, I think we're safe.

Joe, Liz and their cousin Taylor were pictured crossing the street at a Twilight celebration in Forks, WA. Grandma Dania took the kids to the small town to celebrate the birthday of the main character of the book series. Anyone know Bella's birthdate? All of them had a blast and came back with jewelry, real looking vampire teeth, and sense of being somewhere pretty cool cause of an even cooler Grandma.

The First Day of School!

Here are Joe and Liz on their first day of school. Liz and Mom made her bag. Reversible checkers and peace signs. Joe decided not to wear the hat and scarf before he left. Both came home pretty happy with their first day of school and we all went out to ice cream to celebrate!

The Lowest Tide of the Year

A bunch of friends and I brought our children to the beach for the lowest tide of the year. Although it was a warm day (80+) it was a typical Washington beach (lots of rocks) with typical Washington weather (notice the lack of swimsuit-clad-tan-skin). They caught crabs, eels and even some squids. Here are a few pictures from the day. Check out what we hoped was a Momma and baby crab and not some sort of caniballistic situation.

Andi and Lib's Wedding

Two weeks after returning from the area, Jeffrey and I travelled back to Montana for our friends' wedding. It was beautiful, romantic and cold. Andi Piper and Liberty (Ron) Brown were married in a gorgeous Montana setting and it was wonderful! We really enjoyed visiting with the Stoddards (who we borrowed a hunting cap and some socks from because it was so cold).

Yellowstone and Jeff's Family Reunion

Stuffing our van full of snacks, sleeping bags and electronic entertainment devices we journeyed across Washington, Idaho and into Wyoming and Montana ending up back in Idaho for a Family Reunion.

We all donned matching shirts and viewed the sights of Yellowstone National Park. Old Faithful, though faithful wasn't nearly as thrilling as Steamboat Geyser or the view of the falls, but our favorite part was soaking in the a hot pool near the north entrance. Boiling River (the run off of Mammoth Falls that really is boiling hot) meets Gardner River (a normal cold river) and the water temperature is perfect for soaking and filled with bubbles and currents of cold and hot as the boiling waterfall jets warm water into an otherwise cold section of the river.

One of our favorite activities was watching family video clips and doing skits with photo puppets. Our family were the Incredibles. Check us out! Some of the cousins made up thier own skit with thier puppets and entertained us all. Other than the timein the car it was a great trip.

A neighborhood up in smoke...

The fourth of July was sunny, warm and smokey. Well, not the whole time, but by the end of the night we're fairly sure several thousand dollars worth of fireworks were all over our yard and floating in the air. We attended a block party and had a blast, literally. We painted faces (Brian had a batman, Liz and Mom a firework) and blew up things, and had good food with friends. And the day started with a delicious pancake breakfast at the church. It was a great way to celebrate our nation's birthday. Well, except that Rachael had a hot firework hit her. It kind of came out of nowhere and burned her arm a bit. Mostly shocked her. And Jeffrey was pretty miserable due to allergies but that gave him an opportunity to escape to the solitude and safety of the house. Rachael took way too many pictures of the fireworks, but some of them turned out pretty cool, don't you think?

The Amazing Race

We climbed to new heights at the end of June with a Youth Conference for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The theme was The Amazing Race and it really was. We'd worked on it for months with a great team of youth and adults and having it all come together so wonderfully was terrific! Many of the youth, and even us adults felt inspired and uplifted and it was just so great to have fun together in a clean, safe environment. Well, mostly safe. Rachael didn't make it very far up the rock wall. No matter how many ropes she was tied to it just didn't feel right being that high up. Both sets of grandparents and Aunts Renae and Lisa took care of the kids while we were busy and then we joined them in Ocean Shores. That deserves it's own post, so check back for more later.

The Dukes have finally started blogging!

Don't you think it is about time for us to start a blog? Our syblings don't even call anymore when something exciting happens in thier lives. They just assume we'll hear whatever news they have to tell from thier blogs or a forwarded email. We keep in touch with our neighbors via facebook. Although we prefer face to face interactions and the "handwritten sentiments" (thank you, Paul Blart) delivered by snail mail, unfortunately texts, cell phone convos and yes, blogs are now the best way to communicate with an ever growing circle of friends and loved ones. Plus, people's lives sound so great in a blog.